Innovating CRE with Actionable Data

Part One of Addressing the Significance of Data Quality in CRE focused on the current state of data collection and quality in the commercial real estate market. In Part Two, we'll address the necessary steps property companies must take in order to improve data integrity to make better decisions.

Since the dawn of time until 2003 the quantity of information generated is estimated at some five exabytes. According to Intel, that same amount of information is now created every two days. Businesses have long understood that there is value – somewhere – to be extracted from this burgeoning volume of data. And increasingly, they have been able to get at it more efficiently and cost effectively. Yet for all their enthusiasm for “big data,” most companies are only scratching the surface of the opportunities that await them.

We’ve all heard the old adage “Garbage in, garbage out,” a term attributed to be coined by George Fuechsel, an IBM programmer and instructor. Simply put, the phrase notes the cause and effect relationship between bad data input and output in the realm of computer science. In other words, software can only process what it is given.

Data and digital technology are playing a more significant role in organizational decision making than ever before. Commercial real estate is no different. There is a huge opportunity for commercial real estate owners to become truly data-driven in how they attract, acquire, and retain residents and tenants. The industry is moving from one driven by spreadsheets and intuition, to one that is digital-first and powered by technology and data. Property owners and managers that make the shift to digital will arm themselves with the insights to make smarter, faster portfolio decisions, resulting in the capture of better opportunities and higher returns.